


If I'm Haunting You...

by camichats



Category: Marvel
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - No Powers, F/M, Falling In Love, Getting Together, Ghosts, Not Really Character Death, Pining, Sexual Content, Supernatural Elements
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-09-07
Updated: 2018-09-07
Packaged: 2019-07-07 23:45:16
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,665
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15918663
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/camichats/pseuds/camichats
Summary: Wanda had seen her fair share of ghosts during her life. Okay so she'd only seen four, but since most people don't see ghosts, that's more than her fair share. That one of those ghosts was the famous Tony Stark was a whole new level of fucked up.





	If I'm Haunting You...

**Author's Note:**

> A fill for my bingo card, filling the square 'haunting', which ended up a lot longer than I thought it would.

Wanda had seen her fair share of ghosts during her life. Okay so she'd only seen four, but since _most_ people don't see ghosts, that's more than her fair share. The first ghost had been her brother, who died when they were eighteen in a terrorist attack-- not that any of the news outlets called it that. It was 'an unfortunate incident' by someone who 'just needed help', not a fucking shit head that murdered people at their school because they were Jewish. The point is, when Pietro showed up as a ghost, they both thought that they were supposed to get justice for what happened, and it took... too long for them to realize that that wasn't the point.

The second ghost had actually had a plan and gotten caught up in some shady shit. They led her to where they had stored everything, and all she had to do was drop it off anonymously at the police station. Easy peasy.

The third ghost was a kid, and it made her cry when she had to explain to them that they were dead. They had cried too, screaming and raging, but eventually collapsing onto the floor and disappearing one shade of translucence at a time.

The forth ghost was definitely the worst of the three-- she tried not to think about the ordeal with Pietro, how she'd nearly destroyed herself and gotten locked up for life. What was worse than a crying kid? Tony _fucking_ Stark, who officially was missing in Afghanistan right now. And of course he didn't know what was going on. He showed up in her living room, and he looked around in confusion, eyes landing on her suspiciously.

"Didn't know waitresses were in the kidnapping business these days," he said airily, edging towards the door she had just come in from.

"Didn't know billionaires were in the business of dying and then annoying random psychics," she replied. She was too damn tired for this today. Or any day, really, but working a double and then coming home to this was not what she wanted.

Stark frowned in bewilderment. "What?"

She waved at the cup of pencils on the counter where he was edging. "Try and pick it up."

He looked at it warily, then back to her, expecting a trick, though how him picking up a cup would do anything nefarious, she didn't know. He gave a mental shrug and reached for it, freezing when his translucent fingers passed right through it. "What the fuck?"

Wanda sighed; she hated this. "I'm sorry Mister Stark, but you're a ghost."

His brow furrowed, and he tried to pick up the cup again, slower this time, hoping that if he concentrated it would work-- it didn't. "Ghosts aren't real," he said absently, staring at his fingers.

"Then why can't you pick up the cup? How did you get here? I was working, you sure as fuck didn't come here with me. You think this is some weird hoax? Walk out that door and see if anybody else notices you."

"I'm not dead," he said firmly, turning to glare at her.

"Last I heard, you were in Afghanistan. Do you remember that?"

A dark look came over his face, and he nodded.

"How'd you get out?"

He didn't have an answer.

"How did you get back to California, and why are you in my apartment instead of your house?"

"I'm not dead," he repeated, but he didn't sound as confident. " _If_ I was, how come you can see me?"

She shrugged, taking off her shoes and undoing her hair. "If I knew, I'd tell you. I've only been doing this a few years, since my brother died."

"So you don't have any answers for me," he said, and it sounded less accusing than she was expecting.

"No. I'm sorry," she added. "I don't know how long you'll be here, or if you need something done. All I know is that you're stuck with me until you vanish. I know that this is really fucking difficult for you, but I smell like hamburgers and fries and I feel like the grease is coated into my skin. Will you be okay while I take a shower?"

Tony's jaw was clenched, but he nodded all the same.

"You can sit down. You can't move anything, but the couch is fine. You won't pass through it," she added before she left the room. Best case scenario was that he vanished while she was in the shower. Worst case was... she didn't even know. Bad. If he figured out what he needed done, chances were that she wouldn't be able to do anything about it, and trying to tell people that weren't ghosts about the ghost would end with them thinking she was crazy, and that's _if_ she managed to get an audience with anyone Stark knew, which wasn't likely. They were busy and important, and she was a waitress claiming to see Tony Stark's ghost. Yeah, she didn't want to go down that road, and she hoped that Stark wouldn't ask it of her.

She showered quickly, anxious to see what Stark was up to. Her long hair hung down her back in ragged strings because she didn't brush it in her hurry, and it stuck to her face when she turned too quickly into the living room.

Sure enough, he was sitting on the couch, a haunted look on his face. His eyes locked onto hers, and she could see the grief there. "I was going to make things better."

"What?" She walked into the room and sat next to him on the couch-- not close enough to be familiar, but not far enough away to make him think she was uncomfortable.

"When I got back from Afghanistan. I was going to change the company. Track down what was sold illegally, find who sold it to them, shut down the weapons division... all of it. I was going to fix it."

"I'm sorry," she said quietly.

Stark's face twisted, an ugly, bitter thing. "It shouldn't have taken me getting fucking kidnapped to realize I was making mistakes."

"It took me nearly doing a lifetime in prison to realize mine," she offered, giving him a wan smile when he looked at her in surprise. "My brother. I almost destroyed my life trying to get revenge for him, and in the end, it wasn't even something he wanted."

"I'm sorry," he told her, so in return she pretended that she couldn't see tears quivering in his eyes.

She shrugged. "It was years ago. But thank you, Stark."

"What's your name?" he asked, voice croaking. It's what he thought his voice should sound like, she knew. No real tears, no real windpipe to be affected by it.

"Wanda."

He nodded, wiping at his face. She had a moment of curiosity where she wanted to ask him if it felt wet to him. "Thanks Wanda." They sat in silence for a minute. "Do you know when I'll... leave?" 'Move on' felt too religious for him, and 'vanish' somehow more permanent than death. 'Leave' was like he was taking a trip; he'd been on hundreds of trips before, one more wouldn't hurt, one more was hardly a blip on his radar.

"No. Sorry. My brother was around for years, and someone else, an afternoon-- barely an hour." She shrugged again, helplessly. "I don't know what's going on really. Hardly more than you."

Stark nodded, licked his lips and leaned his head on the back of the couch and stared at the ceiling as he thought. "So I go where you go? Until I'm gone?"

"Yes. I'm... an anchor. From you to the world."

"What happens if I try to walk away?"

"Pietro described it like the boundaries of a video game. Your legs move and it feels as though you are walking, but you can't get any further."

"Any idea what the span is?" he asked, and she was starting to feel like she was being grilled for information.

"It varies." His nose wrinkled in distaste, and she pat the air over his shoulder in commiseration-- accidentally going through him the first time because for all they were talking, she’d forgotten that he wasn’t solid. "Believe it or not, I hate this as much as you do."

He turned his head to the side, pinning her with a flat look. Slowly, he raised an eyebrow. It was the sort of expression that instantly made someone feel like an idiot, but she refused to let it work. "I'm dead."

"Yes, and I'm alive, having to deal with it. Your troubles will be over soon, and I'm still here."

Stark snorted, but it wasn't cruel. He broke the eye contact and went back to staring at the ceiling. "Let me guess, you're one of those people that thinks dying is the easy way out."

"Not easy," she argued. "Just... easier."

"Are you suicidal?"

Anger clenched in her, hot and swift. "Go to hell," she snarled.

"I'm sure I will," he said immediately, unbothered by her reaction, and that just made her more pissed off.

* * *

Tony-- because he was Tony now, not Stark-- was still around. Two weeks, and she hoped that this wouldn't be a multi-year commitment like Pietro had been. He was entertaining at work, if only because he got to say all the rude things she was thinking about some of the customers. Some days he walked alongside her, other times he found a vacant seat and tried not to be passed through.

The ride to and from work was always awkward though, because she took the bus and it was always busy. More often than not he didn't have a seat to set down in, which led to some inventive solutions. Her favorite of these included the time he'd perched his feet on either side of her legs and not realized how that looked from her perspective until she couldn't hold back her giggles.

She didn't have a bluetooth headset, so she put her phone to her ear and pretended that that's how she was talking to Tony. Tony, of course, thought it was ridiculous that she didn't have one and offered to buy it for her before falling silent as he remembered the reason he was around her. He didn’t have money, much less the ability to walk into a store or use a computer to order it.

He tried to offer things like that all the time. He would forget that he was dead, and he’d offer to buy something for her. After the first few times, he started apologizing for forgetting himself. She thought that she would find it annoying and some convoluted sort of power play, but she actually found it sort of… sweet. Tony was great, and she found herself truly enjoying his company.

Two weeks, and somehow the ghost of Tony Stark was her best friend.

* * *

"I could give you my card's number," he suggested, looking sympathetically at the raised cost of her birth control pills which was too high for her to maintain. She wouldn’t be able to keep depositing money into her savings, and she suspected that it would take a year before some disaster or other drained the money she’d set aside.

Wanda sighed, shaking her head and ripping the paper in half. She tossed it in the bin and sat back at the table to look at the rest of her mail. "Somebody would track it and then I'd be birth control-less in prison."

Tony leaned back in his chair, rubbing at his arm. "I wish there was something I could do."

"It's fine Tony. Really," she insisted. "It's not like I'm having sex often enough for this to be an issue, anyways."

"When was the last time you had sex?" Tony asked, curious.

"Does it matter?"

"Of course not," he said, "but I've been here over a month and there hasn't been a boyfriend or girlfriend dropping by for you, and you haven't mentioned anyone special, ex or otherwise."

She glanced at him, eyes darting away quickly when she saw how intensely he was looking at her. "If you must know, no, there isn't anyone, and there hasn't been for a while."

"I didn't mean to pry," he said cautiously, asking if she was angry because he couldn't tell right now.

Wanda snorted. "You're staying in my apartment, I think you would have figured it out pretty quickly." He already had of course, and they both knew it. Asking had been a courtesy, and a strange one at that.

* * *

The toilet in her apartment broke, and the super claimed he couldn't do anything about it because of some clause in the leasing contract she'd signed.

Tony told her that was bullshit, and she agreed, but what could she do about it? Nothing. She was going to have to hire a plumber, and they'd probably tell her that they had to order a part while she spent a week going to McDonald's to pee. And of course that would only be to lose a day's pay, half in waiting for the plumber, and the other half as their payment.

She wasn't ashamed to say that she was having a mini breakdown, crying angrily in the hallway.

"Can you lift this for me?" Tony asked, pointing at the back of the toilet.

Wanda sniffled, nodded, and wiped her face. Tony peered inside once she lifted it, and told her not to worry. They just needed a part from a hardware store, and he could talk her through the repair. "Really?" she asked, eyes brimming with tears again, though these were of happiness.

"Yeah." Tony gave her a comforting smile. "Hour and a half and maybe... twenty bucks? And you'll be good to go." He snickered. "Get it? Good to _go_?" He pointed at the toilet with a ridiculous grin.

She laughed and wiped at her face again. Tony was always good for cheering her up once he decided it was something worth his time. She wished, in the back of her mind, that she'd met him like this when he was alive. That was a dangerous thought though, and she buried it alongside the other parts of her life that she didn't want to think about.

* * *

Late one night, they were both awake, him incapable of sleep as a ghost, and Wanda up because her throat was dry when a dream woke her. There was a late night haze to Tony's appearance, same as if he'd been alive staying up long past when sleep should have taken him. 'Late night confessionals' Pietro had jokingly called them when they were teenagers just starting to discover independent thought. "Do you believe in fate?"

_I'm starting to_. "I don't know," she said instead. She filled her glass and gulped it down, throat feeling like it was freezing over at the cold water. "Why?"

"With what you do... ghosts and all that. You don't think there's a reason for it?"

"I think there's a reason," she said. "But that's a pretty big leap to fate. Why are you asking?"

"Just curious," he said, and it was a lie. "Have good dreams."

She nodded at him and went to bed, but only thought of how he'd looked in her kitchen, soft and open.

* * *

She was getting ready for bed and let her mind wander. It hadn't been a bad day at work, and while her legs ached, it wasn't painful like it could get sometimes. She'd been there for her scheduled hours and no more, and tips had been fair. Her guard was down, so maybe that's why it took her by surprise when she caught up to where her mind had gone.

A warm pooling low in her abdomen that was accompanied by the tell-tale traces of slick at her entrance. Getting turned on wasn't a problem, the fact that she'd been thinking about Tony touching her was. She glanced back at her closed bedroom door as if expecting Tony to sense her thoughts and barge through the door angrily-- not that he was capable of any kind of barging as a ghost, angry or otherwise. As such, the door remained peacefully closed, and Tony was probably still sitting on the couch, utterly unaware that she'd been fantasizing about his hand between her thighs.

She hesitated before going to her nightstand. It had been a while since she'd gotten off, and there was no reason Tony would know. She grabbed her vibrator-- small, a bullet the size of her middle finger-- and climbed onto her bed. She took off her jeans and underwear, and put her tank top under her since it was dirty and was about to be washed anyways.

Wanda trailed her fingers lightly over herself, rubbing at her clit before sitting up and stripping her shirt off. She kept her bra on and laid back down, closing her eyes and petting at the skin of her neck to pretend it was ~~Tony~~  a lover touching her like that. She didn't do it for long before turning on the quiet vibrator and settling it on her clit.

Heat rushed through her, so fast that her toes tingled. Before she knew it, her back was arching, and she was coming, throat choking off on Tony's name. Breathlessly, she wiped herself off and gave the vibrator a cursory swipe-- she'd clean it later, when she was less embarrassed about being caught.

She wasn't... _ashamed_ of what she'd just done, but it felt a little disrespectful. To masturbate to the thought of a dead person who could communicate with her and no one else.

Okay she was a little ashamed, so she resolved to not do it again. She managed it, but her mind was not so easily swayed. She still daydreamed, only now she was frustrated because she was getting turned on often but getting no release for it. Tony never said anything to her about it, but Wanda could tell that he knew something was wrong.

* * *

"Why don't you go out more?" Tony asked, biting uselessly at his fingernails.

"I'm busy. And when I'm not busy, I'm tired. And going out requires money I'm not willing to part with under the guise of healthy living."

Tony blinked, then nodded in understanding. "Right." He was still getting used to money being an obstacle for her, but, as with everything else, he was getting better about it.

Wanda supposed that the only good thing about Tony being dead was that she didn't have to find it in her budget to feed him. She would trade it in a second for him to really be next to her though. Breathing and with a heartbeat, she'd be able to smell him, she'd be able to _touch_ him... she cleared her throat and discreetly crossed her legs.

"I just mean," Tony said, bringing her back to their conversation, "that you seem kinda lonely. I've been here for months, and it's like you don't have any friends other than people you work with. And you're not even friends," he added, when it looked like she was going to protest. "They're just people you're friendly with. You never talk about anything real with them."

Wanda snorted. "Like you're one to talk."

Tony quieted and went back to staring at the tv. A few minutes later, she apologized, guilt a heavy weight in her stomach, but Tony shook his head. "You're right. I was ten years older than you, and I only managed to have three friends. And I was paying two of them to work for me. God only knows why Rhodey stuck around."

"You're a good person, Tony," she said quietly.

"I'm glad you think so," he said, like he didn't agree.

But Wanda didn't say anything, not wanting to get into another fight.

* * *

They were watching The Princess Bride, and Tony asked her, "Do you believe in true love?"

"I don't know. I think so. But it's not for everyone."

"You mean that you don't think it's for you," Tony said, getting straight to the point.

Wanda looked over at him. "Do you believe in true love, Tony?"

"Yes," he said, surprising her. He was looking straight at her, something vulnerable in his eyes.

She swallowed, tearing her eyes away to look back at the screen, where Buttercup was currently throwing herself down the hillside. Wanda's heart swooped in her chest when she noticed that Tony's eyes were lingering, and felt, for the first time, that she could relate to the character. It felt like she was falling too.

* * *

They were sitting on the couch, legs side by side. If Tony had a body, Wanda knew they would be touching, maybe laying down and cuddling on the faded, flowery print.

"I've been here a while," Tony said. He'd been here a solid two months, and Wanda felt ashamed for wanting him to never move on.

"You have," she replied neutrally. She swallowed thickly and summoned up some courage. "Would you think me evil if I said I wanted you to stay here?"

"No," he said immediately, softly.

"What would you think?"

"I'd think that I'd really love to kiss you and hold you, but I can't because my arms would pass straight through you."

Both of them were still staring at the tv as the movie did a wide shot of the ocean, score rising with triumphant freedom. "Yeah." Wanda blinked quickly, trying to dissipate the tears that were welling up. "I wish..." she trailed off and shook her head. "Guess it doesn't matter. Wishes don't grow on trees."

"I think the saying is about wishes being horses," Tony said, voice thick.

"Probably."

She saw Tony moving out of the corner of her eye and turned to look at him. He angled himself so that, if he were solid, he'd be in position to kiss her. He moved his hand up to hover over her cheek, half an inch between her skin and the shadow of his palm.

"What're you-?"

"Pretend." Her face scrunched in confusion, and his expression went impossibly soft. "Close your eyes, and pretend like you can feel my hand on your cheek."

Wanda's eyes fluttered shut, and she tilted her head-- just a little-- into the air where his hand was. Leaning into his touch, as it were.

"You can feel it, can't you? You're warm." He gave a little laugh, tinged with sadness. He'd always hated being cold, it was one of the reasons he'd moved to Malibu. "I knew you'd be warm."

Her vision was blurry when she opened her eyes, but after she blinked it away, she could see that Tony's eyes were bright, shining in the light from the forgotten movie.

"Fate's never liked me," he said, voice a bare whisper. "But I thought it would do better by you."

* * *

She was kneeling on her bed, fucking herself on a toy. She had her hair tied back, one hand on the base of the toy to keep it in place, and the other holding one of her breasts, making riding the bright purple cock easier. Usually she wore a bra when she was riding, but she usually didn't have Tony watching her like she was the only thing he wanted in the entire world-- like touching her was something he'd give up all his money for, just to be able to do it once.

When she came, she came hard, back bowing. "Fuck fuck fuck," she muttered, fumbling the toy to turn the vibrations off.

"You're incredible," Tony said hoarsely.

She didn't feel incredible, but Tony said it like it was a fact of the universe. He was watching her every move, enraptured and desire clear in his gaze. She laid on the bed for a minute, facing him as she caught her breath. Her legs were sore in ways that waiting tables didn't accomplish, but this felt better than that ever did. "You liked it?" she asked, needing to make sure.

"Yeah." He licked his lips. "Yeah sweetheart, I loved it." He brought his hand up to her cheek, and she closed her eyes, pretending she could feel it. It _ached_ to know that his hand was there and that he wanted to actually touch her, but she couldn't feel it.

When she opened her eyes, he was just starting to draw away. She smiled at him, and he smiled back. Wanda rolled onto her back and eased the toy out, making a face at the come that was sticking to the smooth surface. With a little groan, she got to her feet and padded to the bathroom. She set the toy in the sink and used the toilet.

It felt domestic that Tony had followed her and was leaning against the frame of the bathroom door.

"What?" she asked, flushing the toilet and getting up to skirt past him-- she'd forgotten to grab the toy cleaner when she left her bedroom.

Tony shrugged, trailing after her for company. "This is a good look on you."

"Afterglow will do that to you." She passed him again on her way back to the bathroom.

"Oh that too, but I was just talking about you being naked. You should do this more often."

Wanda laughed, shaking her head. "I'm not going to walk around naked."

"Aw come on!"

"No," Wanda said, still chuckling. When she was done cleaning off the vibrator, she put it back in her nightstand, but instead of getting dressed like Tony expected, she went to the bathroom and wrapped a towel around herself, then went to the living room and closed the blinds and curtain. She unfurled the towel and set it on the couch, then settled on top of it. "There, happy?"

Tony grinned. "Extremely."

He went to bed with her that night. He couldn't sleep, obviously, but it brought a little bit of the atmosphere they both wanted. He laid next to her, and Wanda could pretend that the reason she couldn't feel his warmth was because he was laying on the other side of the bed.

When she woke up, he was gone, but she had expected that. Tony wasn't going to lay there _all night_ after all. It was only when she got to the living room and didn't see him that she started to worry. She checked every foot of the apartment, but she couldn't find him.

He had finally vanished.

She didn't have time to cry because she was due at work in an hour, and the bus would be here in twenty minutes. She gave it her best try anyways.

* * *

It would figure that when she finally fell in love, it would be with a dead man.

It also figured that when she finally admitted that she was in love, he would vanish.

* * *

Wanda didn't watch the news much, and she didn't see it on news sites either, simply because she didn't take to keeping up with the on goings of the world. It was messy and complicated, and knowing what was going on didn't mean a single thing because she wouldn't be able to help or change anything. So she stayed away.

Which meant that a week later, she heard about the miraculous return of Tony Stark while she was at work. Someone was making small talk with her, and she was smiling and nodding along like she was interested, and that was when he said it. It felt like her whole world screeched to a halt, and the smile froze on her face. "I'm sorry," she said, still using her automated customer voice, "what did you say?"

"They found Tony Stark," he repeated. "What a miracle huh? Everyone thought for sure he was dead and then bam!" He snapped his fingers. "There he was."

Wanda gave a high, fake laugh. "Yeah, I'd imagine that was quite the shock. I'm sure everyone's happy to have him back."

"Some people think he's a war profiteer," this random ass man reminded her, as if that was an acceptable thing to say to someone.

Wanda gave a shrug that-- hopefully-- conveyed how much she didn't care for that opinion in a nice way. The man didn't seem offended, thankfully, and she was able to leave his spot with the excuse of doing her job. She checked all the tables, refilled water, and on her way to the kitchen checked the time. Twenty minutes to the end of her shift, and it looked slow enough that she'd be able to leave on time. She would be able to check on what he said and then- then-.

She pushed it from her mind, and before she knew it, she was clocking out. It took another hour to get home, but she was able to check it on her phone. She typed 'Tony Stark' into the search bar, and the page was filled with news stories about his return. There were pictures, and a press conference scheduled to go live in forty minutes. She spent the rest of the ride searching for a site that was going to livestream it.

She didn't remember getting off the bus, but suddenly she was locking her apartment door and kicking off her shoes. She didn't have time to get changed before it was set to go live, so she sat on the couch in her uniform, eyes fixed on her phone as she held it close to her face so it filled her vision.

It started with someone she didn't recognize standing at a podium, but then Tony spoke up and got all the reporters to sit, doing the same in front of the podium. He looked simultaneously rougher and more put together than she remembered him. She listened to him talk, but the words went in one ear and out the other. She was here for his voice, for the way he looked when he wasn't see-through, not the content.

Although when all the reporters got to their feet and started talking at the same time, and the old guy kind of pulled on him, Wanda thought that maybe she _should_ have paid attention. She had to wait a few minutes to re-watch it because everyone had to switch from the livestream to posting it, and this time she listened to the words. Tony moving out of the weapons business was apparently news for all of them, but not to her. He'd mentioned it when he first showed up and a few times afterwards, but she hadn't known enough about Stark Industries to understand what a huge change that was.

She watched the video again, but something was niggling at her, so she watched it again. Her heart sank when she figured it out. Tony didn't remember her. He was back, in a body even, and he hadn't come by, hadn't called.

She thought-- for a moment-- about calling him, but then she realized that she didn't have a number for him. She thought he was dead, there was no reason to ask for a number to contact him on the off chance that he wasn't _really_ dead and that she would find herself in the position of wanting to call him.

And if Tony didn't remember her, what would she say? _Hi Mister Stark, I know you don't remember me, but while you were kidnapped you were dead for two months and in that time we fell in love so please give me a chance_. Yeah, that would work great. He was Tony fucking Stark, her saying that probably wouldn't even be the first time someone had tried it. For her it would be true, but he had no way of knowing that, and neither did anyone else.

Fate really did love to take a shit on her life.

* * *

She thought she'd never see Tony again-- or for the first time, as it were. She hadn't exactly come to terms with it, but she knew that it was something she'd have to accept in time.

Except someone was knocking on her door, and she wasn't expecting anyone. She frowned, walking over to the door and peering through the peephole to see a harassed looking Tony on her doorstep. His hair was mussed, like he'd dragged his hand through it too many times, and while he was wearing a suit, it didn't look like one of his brightly colored ones that he used as a casual reminder to everyone that he was a thousand times richer than they could ever hope to be.

With shaking fingers, Wanda undid the chain and deadbolt, giving a wrench on the door to get it open. They stood there, staring at each other for a long, charged moment. "You look alive," Wanda said, then winced.

But Tony laughed, looking down at his body then back up at her. "Yeah. I was as surprised as you were." Wanda opened the door wider and stepped to the side, inviting Tony inside. He stepped in but didn't go very far, only a few steps in so she could close the door. "You remember right? Me being here?"

"You're hard to forget," she said, and it sounded a lot more fond than the other times people had said that to him.

"Thank fuck," he said, relieved to the point that he sagged. "Because I thought you were a coma dream at first but then I looked you up and you were real, but then I didn't know if I'd just seen you in passing once and filled in the blanks, but..." he trailed off, glancing around the apartment. "You drink tea right? But nothing with caffeine unless you didn't get enough sleep."

"Yep."

Tony nodded to himself. "Good, that's- good."

"I thought you didn't remember me," she found herself saying.

"No," he said immediately. "You're uh- hard to forget," he said back to her, mouth ticking up on one side. He swallowed and stepped closer, slowly raising one hand up to her cheek.

She held her breath as he got closer, waiting for the moment when she would feel his skin for the first time. In his face, she could see that desire mirrored. "Tony," she said desperately.

His fingers grazed her cheekbone before his palm slid into place. His skin was rough and warm, and this time when she tilted her head, it pressed his hand more firmly against her face. "Wanda..."

She brought her hand up to hold his wrist, and she could feel his pulse bumping against her fingers. "I missed you."

"I missed you too." He stepped closer, into her space, and she was lightheaded from the proximity. She could feel the warmth radiating off of him; she could smell the soap he used, though she found herself hating the blandness of it-- it probably was something extra strength to wash off the lingering feeling of captivity though, so she didn't judge him for it.

She brought her other hand to rest on his chest, over his heart. It was beating so hard she could feel it through his suit jacket. "It's hard to believe that you're really here," she admitted, the confession a quiet fog hanging in the air between them. "How are you...?"

"Coma. They had to work to keep me alive and even then," he trailed off. "Yinsen-- the doctor they'd captured-- he said it was like I already had one foot in the grave."

Wanda swallowed thickly. "Maybe Fate did us a solid. For once," she added with a quick quirk of her lips.

"Maybe." His eyes darted down to her lips, and he laughed. "This is ridiculous. I've wanted- for so long I've wanted to kiss you, and now that we can, I'm not doing anything."

"You're here. That counts for something."

"It could count for more," he replied, and she nodded.

"I think you've done your part personally, finding me and getting here. Guess that means this part is up to me." Without further ado, she pressed forward and kissed him. For all she was being confident, the kiss was cautious. A gentle press of lips because she still wasn't used to not passing through him any time she tried to touch, and it would be a hundred times worse to phase through him trying for a kiss than going for a pat on his shoulder.

Tony's lips were soft, but slightly tacky from chapstick. It made their lips stick together for a bare moment when she pulled away, and she couldn't help a giggle, leaning their foreheads together. She licked her lips, and the tip of her tongue brushed the curve of Tony's bottom lip.

"Can I take you to bed?"

"It's my bed, shouldn't I be asking you?"

He closed the distance and kissed her again, and both of them were breathless by the time they pulled apart. It was soft and sensual, and everything she'd ever wanted to feel from a partner. Tony poured his longing into the kiss, tongue curling around hers like she was precious until she was dizzy with it. "Then ask," he whispered.

"Hey Tony?"

"Yeah?"

"If you're not on my bed in the next ten seconds, I'm going to make you a ghost again."

Tony laughed and gave her a differential nod. "Lead the way."

* * *

**Epilogue**

Wanda's life had a completely different sort of stress than it did before. She called them her 'rich people problems', because that's exactly what they are. Stress was no longer caused by rent or the state of her body at the end of a work day, but instead by galas and paparazzi.

Yeah: rich people problems.

It was bizarre that all of a sudden her cleavage was plastered on seedy looking newspapers, but she would take it in a second over her waitressing days. It was extremely unpleasant to be objectified by people she'd never even seen, but Tony had a protective streak and a team of lawyers that were perfectly content to sue gossip rags for as long as she wanted. It was a heady power, and one she was a little ashamed to say she was taking full advantage of. Tony thought it was great though, and that was probably why she didn't stop.

Part of her newfound problems included Tony buying her so many clothes he had to rebuild their bedroom's closet to fit them all. Seriously. And right now? They were at a store, and the sales lady was showing off a few different (extravagant) pieces on mannequins.

"What do you think?" Tony asked, turning his head to look at her. "The gold or the red?"

"You know me Tony."

He turned back to-- oh what was her name. Gloria?-- the worker and said, "The red one." Gloria-- maybe Glinda?-- nodded and told them that it was a good choice, though of course she would have said that to any of their choices, and she started taking the dresses down and boxed up the one they'd chosen. She handed the box to Tony, and he took it with a kiss to her cheek. "Thanks Lucy." Lucy? Wow she was way off. "We'll see you again in a few weeks."

Wanda frowned. "We will?"

"Yeah," he said, giving her a slightly apologetic look. "Having second thoughts?" he asked, referring to their big relationship talk when she moved in with him and agreed to this life.

"Of course not, but how many dresses does one person need?"

"More than you have," Lucy said with a wink as they left the room to explore the rest of what the store had to offer.

Wanda put her arm around Tony's waist, comforted-- as always-- by the fact that she could touch him. "Ready to go?"

"I don't know," he said coyly. "They have some new lingerie."

"For me or for you?"

"Both?"

Wanda snickered, bumping her head against Tony's shoulder. "Yeah alright. Both."

**Author's Note:**

> Full disclosure: the ghost thing of putting your hand to someone's cheek and telling them to imagine it? 100% stole the idea from the Charmed episode 'Dead Man Dating'. Also I almost didn't put an epilogue but like? I needed more fluff in this story than there was? I know it's short, but it's just to assure everyone that yes, they are happy together :D
> 
> (I'm on tumblr [@cami-chats](http://cami-chats.tumblr.com) btw)


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